One Mistake
by xXSeas of EmeraldXx
Summary: The eyes. They were cold, cunning, and pitiless. It was ONE mistake. Just one mistake that had cost my own life. Warning for character death!
1. Chapter 1

**Angst/Tragedy Fic! This short story is a little...well, you'll see xD I've been procrastinating off of writing the next chapter for "Ranger of Olympus". Hopefully the next chapter will be in a week or two. :) WARNING: There is character death.**

**Story set a few months or so after the eleventh book! **

**Read on:D **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ranger's Apprentice. All rights go to John Flanagan.**

**3rd Person POV**

The eyes. They were calculating, cunning, and pitiless. The eyes of a cold-blooded murderer.

A shadow slinked across the edge of the forest, eyes on the young man that sat on the porch step a couple hundred feet away, playing his mandola, with his back to the Genovesan. He wanted revenge. The youth had killed Bacari, his leader. He wanted to show this swine what happened when you messed with Genovesans. The purple-clad figure slipped closer and closer to his victim, raising a razor-sharp knife.

Fifty feet. Twenty feet. Ten feet…Will turned around. But he was a moment too late. Engrossed in playing his mandola, he didn't hear nor see the assassin approaching. He gasped in pain as the poisoned knife slid between his ribs. The Genovesan smiled cruelly as he watched Will drop his mandola and double over. Will's vision slowly started to blur. His heart rate dropped. Will feebly tried to unsheath his own saxe knife, but the Genovesan kicked him hard in the chest, driving the air out of Will's lungs. The Genovesan knelt down, becoming eye-level with Will.

"That'll teach you a lesson. You can't ever mess with a Genovesan and get away with it," he jeered. His voice was cold and pitiless.

Will looked up, his eyes full of hatred. "Killing me won't make you any less of a coward than you already are," he spoke weakly. He closed his eyes, as if the mere action of talking had used up his last reserves of strength.

The other man laughed, but the laugh was devoid of any humour. "Perhaps not, but killing you has made my career that much easier."

Will snorted in derision. "Career? You can hardly call killing helpless folk in cold blood a career."

The Genovesan smiled in amusement. "I admire your spirit, I'll give you that. Especially considering you're the one half dead."

Will's breathing became shallower as he leaned back, favoring his left side. "You won't get away with this. Someone will find me eventually. And when they see the poison, they'll know who did it. The Rangers will track you and your friends down."

"Your friends would stay away if they know what's good for them. And I know they aren't fools," the assassin replied darkly.

Will simply glared at the murderer, and shook his head in disgust. He knew he had lost. But he didn't want to back down without a few insults. He leaned his head backward, into the dewy morning grass and closed his eyes, giving up. He couldn't do anything now, the wound was major, and he had already lost too much blood. He could slowly feel the poison taking over his body. Will slowly let the darkness engulf him. _What a pity to die this way, _he thought to himself. His own ignorance cost him his life. He wondered ruefully if Halt would have been disappointed. He could bear death. But he didn't want to go without knowing that Halt was proud.

It was one mistake. Just one mistake of being too engrossed in his music, that had cost him his life. And forever he would regret it.

**Yes, death by mandolas xD Hope you liked this chappie :D Will be posting a little bonus chapter soon! While I was writing this, I thought how the Genovesan would have known where Will's cabin was. For those interested in technicalities, I guess the Genovesan did a lot of researching and bribing/threatening to find Will's location. But these assassins are sneaky folk. I just noticed that they're kinda like the evil versions of Rangers o.O**

**Thanks for reading :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the next chapter! There's probably going to be one more chapter after this one. But I'm not sure yet. Anyways, this chapter is about the main characters' last words to Will at his grave (namely, Halt). Read on! :D **

**Time is set a few years after Book 10.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice. All rights go to John Flanagan.**

**Halt's POV**

Will had been found dead a few days after the killing. Once I found out that poison had lead to his demise, I knew only one person who used poisons, and also held a grudge against Will. The Genovesans.

I knelt down in front of Will's tombstone. The funeral ceremony had just finished. Everyone said their goodbyes, and left. I wanted a last few private words.

I never got to say goodbye. I would do anything just to see Will's face again. I never knew one person could mean so much. I regretted one thing, I never got to tell him how proud I was of him. And now...he would never know.

I put my hand on the smooth surface of the tombstone.

"I'm proud of you, Will," I whispered. "I was proud of everything you did. I couldn't have asked for a better apprentice. You were one of the greatest Rangers of history. You'll be remembered for generations. We all love you, Will. Gilan, Crowley, Pauline, Alyss, Jenny, Horace, we'll love you forever. No matter what. Alyss said that you were the greatest thing that ever happened to her. Gilan said that you were like a younger brother to him. Horace said he could never have asked for a better friend.

Thank you for changing my life. You were the spark of joy and excitement in my dull life."

I reached into a small pocket on the inside of my jerkin. I produced a chain with a silver oak leaf dangling loosely from it. It had belonged to Will. I laid the chain in front of the tombstone.

I felt tears trace their way down my cheek. Life would be different without Will. Even though he had graduated to a full-fledged Ranger years ago, he would always be my naïve, brave, young apprentice. No matter what.

I stood and stepped away from the grave. I went to mount Abelard. Instead of heading back to Redmont, I turned Abelard's head west, to Genovesa, Tuscano. I had some unfinished business to do.

Abelard turned his large, intelligent eyes on me. _Where are you going?_

I patted his neck. "I've got a little plan for our Genovesan friends. Once we find out who did this, that man will wish he had never been born. Let's show 'em what happens when you mess with Rangers."

I set Abelard into a steady trot as I headed west.

**There will be one more chapter after this, and I'm pretty sure you can guess what it's gonna be about :P**

**Also, at the end where I said Genovesa was west, I'm not actually sure what direction it would be in. I couldn't be bothered to look it up :3 **

**But that won't affect the storyline at all.**

**Hope you liked this chapter :) Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out. ;_;**

**I'm just a procrastinator…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ranger's Apprentice. All rights go to their respectful owners.**

**3rd Person POV**

Halt tried to look nonchalant as he strolled through the crowd in Genovesa. After weeks, he finally was able to track the killer down. Halt caught sight of a dull purple flashing in the crowd. It was a busy day. People were out in the markets, and enjoying the multiple street attractions.

Halt desperately tried to push his way to the crowd, trying to reach the assassin before he was seen. Halt snuck closer and closer and...the Genovesan was gone. He just seemed to disappear into thin air. Halt let out a string of curses under his breath and pushed farther into the crowd with renewed urgency.

As he got away from the crowd, and into an alley, he unslung his bow. Halt looked around cautiously. He knew that any minute a crossbow bolt might slam into his back. He was reminded painfully of the incident with the Genovesan a couple years back, and how he had been on the brink of death. Halt rubbed his arm subconsciously where he had been hit a couple years back with that wretched bolt.

In his peripheral vision, Halt caught a glance of dull purple. Then it disappeared just as quickly as it appeared. Halt cautiously wandered around the alley and behind the buildings. He heard footsteps. Soft footsteps; almost inaudible-but to Halt had a trained ear. Halt spun around, and sure enough, the Genovesan stood calmly a feet meters away. The assassin had a large knife in his hand, and he swung it experimentally a few times. "Ah, I see you've come to avenge your friend. Pity that I'm going to kill you now." he said malevolently.

Halt glared at him. "The only killing that will be done will be by me," he snarled.

The assassin grinned wolfishly. "That's what you think. If I can take down one of the so-called bravest heroes in Araluen, I can definitely take down his grandfather."

Halt gritted his teeth. "I'll show you what happens when you mess with Rangers, you dirty bag of scum," he growled.

The Genovesan seemed to glide over to Halt in a blur, and in a few seconds, a poisoned blade was hovering just above Halt's throat. "Those are pretty large words for someone who has a knife at their throat," the Genovesan whispered. The assassin held him against the wall of a building and started to inch the knife closer and closer to Halt's skin.

Halt, with his saxe in hand, tried to drive it into the Genovesan's stomach, but he saw it coming, and stepped to the side easily. He knocked the knife out of the Ranger's hand.

"No, no. None of that. Perhaps if you don't fight back, I'll give you a quick, painless death. On the other hand, if you resist, I _will _make you suffer. You know that my kind are masters of torture. I'm sure you're wise enough to choose," he hissed.

Halt looked at the Genovesan with pure hatred. He hated this man with every fibre of his body for killing Will. Halt had an idea forming in his head. "If you kill me, so what? You won't gain anything. I thought your kind only killed for money," he challenged. All he had to do was keep the assassin busy.

"Don't take me for a fool, old man. I'm wise enough to know that if I let you go, you'll stab me in the back, literally. Killing you will make my job that much easier; just like when I killed your precious friend," the Genovesan growled. Halt pursed his lips, as if deep in thought, then spoke. "Be that as it may, but-" Suddenly, Halt aimed a solid flat-footed kick to his captor's kneecap, followed by a hard uppercut punch to the jaw. The assassin howled in pain as his knees buckled underneath him, and his jaw dislocated from the sudden impact of the punch. He stumbled back, dropping the knife as he did so. Halt, quick as a fox, aimed a kick in the stomach, which sent the Genovesan sprawling to the ground.

Halt swiftly picked up the fallen poisoned blade.

He held the Genovesan to the ground and straddled him, holding the knife to his throat. "Grandfather? That's a bit harsh. I'm not that old. I think "father" would do nicely," Halt said sardonically. The Genovesan tried to push the grey-bearded Ranger off, but Halt held firmly. Halt took the blade away from his throat, and seized his arm, cutting away the shirt sleeve. "Now, I'm going to give you a chance to live because I'm feeling generous. Odds are, you'll die in a few days if you can't find an antidote," Halt said darkly.

Halt cut open a vein in the other man's wrist. The poison flowed into the bloodstream, and blood welled in the cut. The Genovesan looked at Halt with fear, but said nothing.

Halt slowly got off the other man. making sure to keep the knife between him and the assassin. "Don't try and follow me, or I'll knock you unconscious. Understand?"

The Genovesan nodded frantically, eyes locked on the poisoned blade. Halt slowly back away, satisfied. He picked up his longbow and set an arrow on the string. The Genovesan scrambled awkwardly to his feet, but he didn't make an attempt to give chase. The Ranger started to back away faster.

But the Genovesan had one more trick up his sleeve. He drew a small knife that was hidden in his boot. He brought his arm back, and threw it at the retreating figure of the Ranger. He hit his mark. Halt threw his hands up in the air as the knife struck him in the side, and he collapsed.

Halt cursed himself silently. He shouldn't have given the Genovesan a chance to live. Blood started to pool around him. Halt shut his eyes and favored his right side, where the dagger hit him. His heartbeat got slower by the second. This must of been how Will felt...useless, at the brink of death, and not being able to do anything about it. All because of one little mistake.

He felt all life slipping away from him. It was too late. He was already dead.

For Will. He did this for Will.

**I feel so evil now...I killed off two of my favourite characters...I should be ashamed. **

**I was planning to leave it at a happy ending, where Halt got away alive...But noooo...I just HAD to make it more angst-y. Okay, hope you guys liked this story!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**~Seas of Emerald**


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